One Day at a Time
by MoonytheMarauder1
Summary: After the war, Ron is left to figure out how to proceed with his life. Luckily, he doesn't have to figure it all out on his own. Harry&Ron friendship


**A/N: Hey y'all! This was written for Hogwarts. Prompts are below :)**

**Sociology Task 3: Write about someone moving into their own place**

**Word Count: 1268**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Those rights go to JK Rowling.**

**WARNINGS: Self-esteem issues**

**Thanks to Angel for beta-ing!**

**Enjoy!**

"Well, we're here!" Harry announced, swinging the door to Ron's new flat open and glancing over his shoulder at his friend. "What do you think?"

Ron rolled his suitcase in and shut the door behind him. He looked around warily and cleared his throat. "Mum said if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

Harry rolled his green eyes. "Funny. Come on, you've been talking about this place for weeks. It's supposed to be exciting. What's wrong?"

Ron ran a hand through his red hair and shrugged. Harry was right; this should be exciting, but for some reason, he just… wished that nothing was changing. Everything had already changed, and now he was moving out. Leaving. On his own.

It made the world much larger than it had any right to be.

"I dunno. Don't you think it's a little soon for all this? I mean, Mum's still trying to sort things out after the war, Hermione's going batty about all the education she's missed, we're still trying to rebuild Hogwarts—maybe I should wait to do this until things have calmed down, or… or something."

There was a crease in Harry's brow, and Ron cursed his friend's concern. He didn't need it. He was _fine._

"We fought the war so we could, you know… make life go back to normal," Harry said carefully. "We're setting things right."

Ron shuffled his feet. "'S not very normal though, is it? We're seventeen, you know? Nothing is as it should be."

Harry crossed his arms. Ron turned away from him, awkwardly kicking his suitcase further into the flat. It was a nice one, too: clean, affordable, and in a good part of town. His mother had been delighted. He'd been excited before, but now… he wondered if the Muggles had it right. Maybe he should wait another year before living out on his own.

"Ron, talk to me. We've been through a lot—you really can't tell me why you don't want to move into the flat?"

Well, see, the problem wasn't that he didn't want to _tell_ Harry, the problem was that he couldn't find the words to vocalize how he felt. So much of the wizarding world's burden had fallen onto Harry's shoulders; Ron didn't want him worrying about his best friend's flat, of all things, too.

"I guess it's just odd, not sharing a room with anyone. I'm not used to it, you know? It's too quiet." It wasn't quite a lie; this silence was something he'd have to get used to.

Harry just looked at him, waiting.

Ron fidgeted. "I'm worried about Mum. I don't want to leave her and Dad."

Harry cocked a brow. Ron growled.

"Bloody hell, mate, what do you want me to say?"

Harry crossed his arms. "The truth."

Ron narrowed his eyes, and, deciding that he couldn't win, grabbed his things and marched into the sitting room. Harry followed him, though, so that didn't end up doing much good.

Ron knelt on the ground and unzipped his bags. He began unpacking, never mind the fact that he'd have to move it all again later. "I don't know how to live on my own, okay?" he ground out. "I've never had to do that before."

Harry sat beside him, but he didn't try to help speed up the unpacking process, which Ron appreciated. "We lived on our own for a year, and you handled that fine. This should be a breeze."

"Yeah. Too bad that didn't kill me," Ron joked weakly. "At least then I wouldn't have to worry about… bills and things."

"Ah." Harry's eyes lit up. "That's it, then? Jobs?"

Ron shot him an irritated glance. "You know, I don't need two Hermiones in this world."

Harry snapped his fingers. "Oh wow. I've wasted my life. Because, you know, my sole purpose was to be _exactly like Hermione—_"

"Oh, shut up," Ron grumbled. He crossed his freckled arms, turning to glare at the savior of the wizarding world. "Listen, you're going to be accepted in the Auror program, aren't you? And we both know that Hermione isn't going to have any trouble getting some high-paying position in the Ministry, backward though it is at the moment. Neither of you _get_ it."

"Hey." Harry punched his shoulder lightly. Neither of them was very good at feelings, and it showed, but Ron appreciated the effort nonetheless. "You can do those things, too. You've done much harder stuff, and you survived that."

"I don't want to work under someone who—who hires me because of what I did in the war, or who discriminates against the people I care about, or any of that," Ron snapped. "The bloody Ministry is always going to be full of gits, even if Kingsley does try to set it straight."

"Then don't work for the Ministry," Harry suggested. "Do something else."

Ron rolled his eyes bitterly. "You may not understand this, mate, but I'm not exactly _good_ at anything. What the hell am I going to do—get hired on merit?"

Harry sat back on his heels, looking stunned. "Hey! You're loyal, you don't back down when faced with conflict—"

"Yeah, I'm not hearing how I'm supposed to pay for groceries."

"I can help with that, if you need it," Harry muttered weakly.

Ron slumped. "You and your bleeding heart," he grumbled. He scrubbed a hand over his face, wondering how best to approach this. "I don't need charity."

"It's not—"

"That's what it feels like." Ron cut him off curtly.

Harry wilted. Ron cleared his throat.

"I have to do this on my own," he began slowly. "This flat is a reminder that I have to do it alone. That the real world is starting, and…"

"And you're still in the war," Harry mumbled.

Ron looked over, surprised. "Er, yeah."

"Yeah," Harry repeated. "Yeah, I'm not really sure where to go from here, either. Things were simpler when we had a plan, eh?"

Ron swallowed dryly. "Yeah."

The two boys—or were they men now?—sat beside each other in silence for several minutes. Finally, Harry spoke. "Merlin, we sound ancient. Feeling old yet?"

Ron looked at him sideways. "What, because we peaked at seventeen?" He cracked a smile. "Yeah, I suppose so."

Harry shrugged one shoulder. "I guess we need to take it one day at a time, eh?"

Ron sighed heavily. "Guess so."

Harry clapped him on the shoulder, sending his friend a half-hearted, lopsided grin. "Come on. The sink is broken, the landlady said; we should fix it."

Ron winced. "Damn. I've no idea how to do that."

Harry raised a brow. "Neither do I. That's what _reparo_ is for."

Ron let out a laugh and stood, holding out a hand to hoist Harry up. They headed towards the kitchen, but before they entered Harry stopped Ron.

"You can do this, you know." He straightened his glasses on his nose. "You've helped me out of loads of fixes before, and we were just kids. And I don't bloody care what you say because you are brilliant at a lot of things."

Harry was practically daring Ron to challenge him, and the older boy snorted. "It's useless arguing against the Chosen One, isn't it?"

Harry laughed. "Glad you've learned one thing over the years. Come on; there's a lot of unpacking to do if you don't want to sleep on the floor tonight."

Ron grinned and followed Harry to the kitchen to tackle that sink. He wasn't _really _alone during all of this, and somehow that made it all the more bearable.

**A/N:**

**WC: Assorted Appreciation: 6. Donna Noble — (relationship) friendship**

**WC: Disney Challenge: S4. Son of Man — Write about someone on the cusp of adulthood**

**WC: Trope of the Month: 15. (word) exciting**

**WC: All Sorts of Space: 12. (action) fixing something important**

**WC: Book Club: Knox — (dialogue) "We're setting things to right.", (word) burden, (emotion) stress**

**WC: Showtime: 23. How Long? — (action) wishing**

**WC: Liza's Loves: 3. Criminal — alt. Write about someone with a disrespect for the law**

**WC: Angel's Archives: 1. "Too bad that didn't kill me."**

**WC: Scamander's Case: 22. (character) Harry Potter**

**WC: Bex's Basement: 5. "Oh wow. I've wasted my life."**

**WC: Film Festival: 9. (genre) friendship**

**WC: Marvel Appreciation: 6. (characteristic) loyal**

**WC: Lyric Alley: One thing led to another, we were young**

**Fortnightly: Coconut 16. "Each day means a new twenty-four hours. Each day means everything's possible again. You live in the moment, you die in the moment, you take it all one day at a time." - Marie Lu, Legend**

**Wandmakers: Holly: (house) Gryffindor, thunderbird tail feather: (character) Harry Potter, Pliable: "Feeling old yet?"**

**Sci-Fi: 7. (action) someone snapping their fingers**

**Mythology: 7. (word) conflict**

**Game Night: Dares: "What do you think?" / "Mum said if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."**

**264\. Affordable**

**831\. (relationship type) friends**


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